Chapter Summaries

Luo Xiang returned from Liaodong with news of Winter City, and the Luo Clan began migrating from Zhao City. After a flood submerged the ancient city, Luo You led its final inhabitants north to Winter City, where the Zhao City Luo Clan ended and the survivors prepared to begin again.

• Luo Xiang and the surviving Dare-to-Fight Warriors returned to Zhao City after breaking through Hu attacks, and Luo Xiang told Luo You about their losses and the preparations in Liaodong.
• The Luo Clan began its migration in batches, sending over ten thousand young and able-bodied people and several thousand women and children toward Winter City under the guard of two thousand Dare-to-Fight Warriors.
• Over five years, the Luo Clan moved its eighty or ninety thousand people out of Zhao City, leaving Luo You and the last several thousand elderly residents behind.
• A torrential flood submerged Zhao City, and Luo You realized Heaven had destroyed the city as the clan faced its future without the Sage King.
• Luo You met Murong Chengguang at the Putuo River, accepted his gift for Duke Zhao, and continued north with Zhao City's final inhabitants.
• Luo You reached Winter City, where the Zhao City Luo Clan dissolved and its surviving members prepared to begin again.

After Luo Chen died, Luo You succeeded him and worked to secure Winter City’s food and defenses as Hu tribes encroached on Liaodong. Learning that a rising Grassland power was capturing Hu warriors and that Heaven’s mandate favored the Hu, Luo You resolved to resist with divine artifacts and the Luo Clan’s blood, beginning with himself.

• Luo Chen collapsed after the Winter City ceremony and died three days later; Luo You succeeded him and remembered his father’s warning to secure food through farming, fishing, and hunting.
• Luo You and the Luo Clan’s senior members learned that migrating Hu tribes had cut off their trade route, and Luo You’s Dare-to-Fight Warriors defeated a Hu attack on Winter City.
• Luo You concluded that Heaven was creating heroes among the Hu to advance their destiny, and the Luo Clan decided to watch for the extent of the threat.
• Luo Clan hunters witnessed Xianbei riders capture Hu tribespeople for the Great Chanyu, whose forces were drawing warriors from Liaodong to the Grasslands.
• The High Priest explained three methods of defying Heaven, and Luo You vowed to use divine artifacts and scarlet blood, offering to begin with himself.

The Xianbei Chanyu rejected an immediate invasion of the Southern Kingdom and sought friendship with Wei State, while Sima Yi led Wei State toward a campaign to seize Ba-Shu. After Chu State lost Ba-Shu, Chu Yun planned to flee to Jianye, leaving Luo Xi and Xiao Cheng doubtful that the state could recover.

• Yan Hui rejected the Xianbei nobles’ request to attack south and proposed befriending Wei State before expanding westward.
• Sima Yi persuaded Wei State’s court to seize Ba-Shu, and fifty thousand Wei troops marched from Chang'an toward Hanzhong.
• After receiving word of Wei State’s advance, Chu Yun summoned his ministers, who agreed to call on Lu Xun to lead the defense.
• Lu Xun said illness and unrest on the Han frontier prevented him from coming, and Chu Yun insulted him before the ministers forced the emperor to apologize.
• Chu State sent thirty thousand troops to reinforce Yizhou, but Wei State defeated them, captured Chengdu, and conquered Shu.
• Luo Xi advised Chu Yun to move the capital to Jianye, and Chu Yun accepted while Xiao Cheng mocked his decision.

Murong Xiang secured the Dugu Tribe’s submission to Xianbei Xia after Dugu Ji rejected Yan State’s recruitment, while Murong Chengguang announced Yan’s growing strength and plans for expansion. Luo You and Luo Xiang considered the rising threat of the Xianbei and waited for the other states to recognize it.

• Murong Xiang offered Dugu Ji wealth and status in exchange for the Dugu Tribe’s submission to Xianbei Xia, while Murong Cheng arrived to recruit the tribe for Yan State.
• Dugu Ji rejected Murong Cheng’s offer, agreed to join Xianbei Xia, and told his son that Yan State was weak but might become a future refuge.
• Murong Chengguang announced that Yan State had gained the support of tribes in Liaodong, accepted the title of Duke of Liaoxi Commandery, and declared plans to march on Bingzhou and Dai Land.
• Luo Xiang reported to Luo You that Yan State and Xianbei Xia were gathering Hu tribes, and Luo You judged that their actions could temporarily reduce threats to the Luo Clan.
• Luo Xiang urged action against the Xianbei, but Luo You said the states would not respond until the Hu invasions caused them serious losses.

As Xianbei Xia State prepared to invade the Western Regions, Luo Gu struggled to unite its divided rulers and faiths. With no strong secular leader to defend the region, he summoned its states and people to gather at Unshuang City and resist the coming attack.

• After Wei State conquered Shu, Sima Yi warned his sons that a minister who grasped extraordinary power risked the destruction of his clan, even as honors and pressure to expand Wei State’s territory mounted.
• Yan State’s Murong Chengguang resolved to campaign against Bingzhou, while Xianbei Chanyu Yan Hui gathered more than a hundred thousand cavalry for an invasion of the Western Regions.
• Murong Xiang asked Wei State to join the Xianbei campaign, but Cao Fang’s court refused military aid and offered expanded grain trade instead.
• After confirming Wei State would not interfere, Yan Hui resumed preparations to invade the Western Regions.
• Luo Gu considered how rival sects and the Sage King’s competing incarnations obstructed unity, while the Temple Army seemed too weak to stop the Xianbei alone.
• Luo Gu issued the Temple’s Proclamation to All the People of the Western Regions, summoning the rulers, troops, and people to gather at Unshuang City and resist the invasion.

High Priest Luo Gu gathered the Western Regions rulers at Unshuang City to answer the Xianbei invasion, while Zhao Yingluo pledged Tianjin’s forces and urged resistance. The Western Regions alliance marched out to face Yan Hui’s larger, rigorously disciplined army, whose first cavalry harassment left Luo Gu alarmed by its skill.

• Luo Gu welcomed the arriving Western Regions rulers and learned that Zhao Yingluo had brought fifteen hundred armored horsemen from Tianjin.
• Zhao Yingluo warned the rulers that she had killed anyone who threatened her rule and called on them to resist the Grasslands invasion.
• Yan Hui sent Luo Gu a letter demanding the Temple submit to his authority, and Luo Gu tore it up as Tuoba He and Murong Xi camped outside Unshuang City.
• Luo Gu ordered the Western Regions rulers to leave the city and meet the enemy, and their forces formed ranks against an Xianbei army twice their size.
• Yan Hui issued strict military orders, and Tuoba He and Murong Xi led cavalry raids that withdrew without breaking formation, leaving Luo Gu impressed and concerned by their discipline.

The Xianbei army used feints and attacks on Western Regions cities to force Luo Gu’s allied army out of Unshuang City. Luo Gu committed to battle to protect the kingdoms, and the chapter ended as the armies clashed and the Western Regions rulers urged him to attack.

• The Xianbei tested the Western Regions Army with rolling cavalry attacks, but the Temple Army repelled their armored cavalry and Yan Hui ordered a retreat.
• Luo Gu rejected Yan Hui’s offer of nobility, sent a warning letter to the main lineage, and received a defiant reply from Yan Hui.
• Luo Gu organized the allied kingdoms with command flags, but the Xianbei bypassed Unshuang City, captured smaller cities, and used their inhabitants as front-line captives.
• The Western Regions rulers demanded that Luo Gu send troops to defend their people, so he chose to leave Unshuang City and confront the Xianbei army.
• Yan Hui ordered his commanders to attack while warning them not to underestimate the Temple Army; as captive-filled ranks advanced, Luo Gu’s forces fired in sequence and a ruler asked when they could attack.

Luo Gu and Luo Jialan struggled to hold Unshuang City against the Xianbei, whose disciplined forces steadily depleted the Temple Army. As Luo Gu ordered his son to preserve the Temple’s legacy if the city fell, seven messengers from Unshuang finally reached Winter City with a Phoenix Banner and requested an audience with Duke Zhao.

• Qiuci State attacked without authorization, and its cavalry was lured into the Western Regions infantry as the Xianbei prepared to encircle them.
• Luo Gu sent Luo Jialan and the Temple Army to protect the infantry while Zhao Yingluo rallied the remaining troops; the Temple Army fought through the Xianbei’s counterattack.
• Exhausted riders carried Luo Gu’s letters across ten thousand li toward Winter City, and one messenger died on the journey after declaring that he had no regrets.
• At Unshuang City, Luo Jialan reported that only a thousand Temple Army soldiers remained, and Luo Gu instructed him to flee with the army’s banner if the city fell and preserve the Temple’s legacy.
• Seven messengers who had departed Unshuang City arrived in Winter City after three months, raised the Phoenix Banner, and sought an audience with Duke Zhao.

As Unshuang City faced the Xianbei assault, Luo Jialan and Zhao Yingluo escaped while Luo Gu resolved to destroy the temple rather than let Yan Hui claim it. In Winter City, Luo You sent the Thousand-Li Daoist Sword Talisman along a path marked by the graves of the dead, and Luo Yu caught the sword as it reached Unshuang City, where Yan Hui stood before her.

• Yan Hui ordered elite troops to breach Unshuang City and planned to crown himself High Priest in the Sage King Sovereign's temple.
• Luo Gu urged Luo Jialan to flee, but Luo Jialan and Zhao Yingluo left together, intending to resist the Xianbei in Tianjin and beyond.
• Luo Jialan used his [Sinking Fish] talent to carry Zhao Yingluo through the water and out of the encircled city.
• Luo You revealed the Thousand-Li Daoist Sword Talisman, which followed the lights rising from the graves of seventy people who had fled Unshuang City and died along the way.
• As the Xianbei breached the city and Yan Hui threatened Luo Gu and Luo Yu, Luo Yu caught the arriving Daoist Sword and advanced toward Yan Hui.

A divine sword killed the Xianbei Chanyu, but the Sage King Temple, Unshuang City, and nearly the entire Western Regions Luo Clan were destroyed. As news spread to Wei State, Cao Shuang planned campaigns against Hedong and the Xianbei while Sima Yi recognized the danger he posed.

• The Thousand-Li Daoist Sword Talisman killed the Xianbei Chanyu as the temple burned, sending the Xianbei army fleeing from Unshuang City.
• Luo You said the sacrifice had weakened Hu Fortune by a tenth and urged the Luo Clan to rally the feudal lords against the Xianbei.
• Luo Jialan and Zhao Yingluo chose to continue toward Tianjin State rather than return to Unshuang City, planning to take control of the state and rebuild the Sage King's temple.
• News of the temple's destruction, the Chanyu's death, and the Luo Clan's losses reached Wei State's court in Chang'an.
• Sima Yi warned that the Xianbei were stronger than expected, while Cao Shuang dismissed the threat and promised to campaign against them after taking Hedong and Nanyang.
• After noticing Cao Shuang's hostility, Sima Yi feigned a collapse; Cao Shuang then proposed condemning the Xianbei and planned to eliminate Sima Yi after his campaign against Hedong.

Murong Chengguang used threats, persuasion, and appeals to unity to conquer much of Bingzhou for Yan. After Zhang Tong surrendered Jinyang, Murong Chengguang turned his attention toward recovering Jizhou and wondered whether the other lords would join a campaign against the Xianbei.

• After learning that the Xianbei had united and grown powerful, Murong Chengguang ordered city defenders and residents to face brutal consequences if they resisted Yan.
• Murong Chengguang issued a proclamation presenting Yan’s invasion as a struggle to unite the realm and resist the Xianbei, while Yan envoys persuaded Bingzhou’s clans and generals to surrender.
• At Jinyang, Zhang Tong challenged Murong Chengguang’s bloody methods, but Murong urged him to open the gates and invoked Zhang’s father, Wenyuan.
• Zhang Tong surrendered Jinyang to Murong Chengguang, who accepted his sword and promised the Zhang Clan a place among Yan’s eminent clans.
• After taking much of Bingzhou, Murong Chengguang considered retaking Jizhou and joining a campaign against the Xianbei, while questioning whether the other lords would participate.

After Zhao City and the Sage King Temple were destroyed, Luo Yuzhi traveled south to seek allies against the Xianbei, but Han State and Chu State refused to commit troops. The chapter left the Luo Clan with only Yan State’s promised support and three thousand Danyang Soldiers from Luo Xi, while Lü Mu prepared to rally clansmen to avenge the temple.

• Luo Jin’s reasoning for the Luo Clan’s migration to Liaodong was recalled as the clan’s heavenly and human tribulations were described.
• Murong Chengguang agreed that Yan State would join the Luo Clan in attacking the Xianbei and explained how victory could let Yan State absorb the grasslands and expand its power.
• Luo Yuan told Luo Yuzhi that Liu Shan would not risk sending Han State’s army, and Lü Mu declared that he would rally Lü clansmen to join the campaign.
• The Chu Emperor welcomed Luo Yuzhi but refused to send troops, while Luo Xi offered him three thousand Danyang Soldiers and vowed that his descendants would watch over Jiangdong until the Luo Clan returned.

Luo You prepared the Luo Clan to fight the Xianbei, handed leadership to Luo Xi's to protect the clan’s children, and vowed to lead the Dare-to-Fight Warriors himself. Meanwhile, Murong Chengguang allied with the Luo Clan and launched Yan State’s campaign against Liaodong, while Zhao Yingluo and Luo Jialan returned to Tianjin State and planned a coup to resist the Xianbei.

• Luo You declared that the Luo Clan would defy the prevailing trend and fight the Xianbei, then entrusted the Inheritance Ring and care of the clan’s infants to Luo Xi's.
• Luo Chengzhi secured Murong Chengguang’s agreement to attack the Xianbei alongside the Luo Clan, and Murong Chengguang ordered Yan State’s troops to assemble.
• Murong Chengguang rejected Han State’s accusations and ordered Yan State to attack Liaodong after Han State refused to join the campaign.
• Zhao Yingluo returned to Tianjin State with Luo Jialan, rallied loyal allies, and announced that she would rule as queen with Luo Jialan as her future royal consort.
• Zhao Yingluo and Luo Jialan planned a nighttime palace coup, intending to use Luo Jialan’s spirit soldiers to seize control of the King of Tianjin and prevent Tianjin State from surrendering to the Xianbei.

Zhao Yingluo seized the Tianjin throne and prepared to fight the advancing Xianbei, while Shi Min routed Yan forces and alarmed Murong Chengguang. Murong Chengguang sought Luo You’s help against Shi Min, then discussed dynastic succession and the future of Yan with him.

• Zhao Yingluo killed the King of Tianjin and his four remaining children, then proclaimed herself King and ordered Tianjin to mobilize against the Xianbei.
• Murong Chengguang learned that sixteen-year-old Shi Min had destroyed his vanguard, and Shi Le summoned Shi Min before leading his tribe against Yan.
• Shi Min broke through Yan’s forces at the Laer River and killed Murong Chenglin, while Yan lost twenty thousand men and three thousand armored cavalry.
• Murong Chengguang met Luo You and asked him to help defeat Shi Min, and Luo You promised that the Luo Clan would handle him.
• Murong Chengguang and Luo You discussed succession, dynastic legitimacy, and peaceful transitions, and Luo You urged Murong Chengguang to raise an heir who shared his ideas.

Luo You warned his commanders about Shi Min’s extraordinary battlefield prowess, then joined Murong Chengguang’s pursuit of the retreating Shi Tribe. As Shi Min charged toward the Luo formation, Luo You deliberately exposed himself as bait and personally led the Dare-to-Fight Warriors into battle, leaving Shi Min surging toward the apparent opening.

• Luo You told Luo Xiao, Luo Chengzhi, Luo Weizhi, Luo Xiang, and Lü Xi that Shi Min and Shi Le were exceptional leaders and ordered the army to be cautious in the Grasslands.
• Shi Le withdrew the Shi Tribe toward the Yellow River, and Shi Min led the rearguard to hold off Luo You and Murong Chengguang’s forces.
• Luo You assigned Luo Xiang to defend the center and Luo Chengzhi and Luo Weizhi to flank Shi Min, while Murong Chengguang ordered the Yan Army to cross the river.
• Shi Min spotted Luo You beneath the central banner and charged toward him, but the Luo formation’s strength made him suspect a trap and slow his advance.
• Luo You rode into battle, gave the Divine Scepter to Luo Xiao, and ordered Luo Xiang to seek a chance to kill Shi Min with his bow.
• Luo Xiao’s troops exposed an opening, and Shi Min sensed the danger recede and spurred his horse forward.

Shi Min was trapped and weakened by the Dare-to-Fight Warriors, then tried to save himself by claiming Han ancestry and offering to fight the Hu People. Luo You refused to spare him and ordered him killed; the Shi Tribe cavalry fled, and Luo You mourned Luo Xiang.

• Shi Min fought through the Dare-to-Fight Warriors as Luo You and Luo Xiang tried to hold him back, and Luo Xiang was gravely injured when his horse fell on him.
• Luo Chengzhi and Luo Weizhi led the warriors in cutting off Shi Min's retreat while chains and repeated attacks slowed him.
• Shi Min abandoned his attempt to kill Luo You and offered to serve the Luo Clan, claiming his ancestors were Han and promising to slaughter the Hu People.
• Luo You rejected Shi Min's plea, declared that he would avenge the fallen warriors and Luo Xiang, and ordered the archers to fire.
• The arrows killed Shi Min, the remaining Shi Tribe cavalry fled, and Luo You told the dying Luo Xiang that their clansmen had avenged him.

Luo You died after killing Shi Min, revealing that the Luo Clan’s blood could weaken the Hu People’s Mandate of Heaven. Luo Chengzhi urged Murong Chengguang to destroy the Shi Tribe before securing a retreat, while Luo Xi inherited the Household Head’s position and learned why his uncle had sacrificed himself.

• Luo You told Luo Chengzhi to wipe out the Shi Tribe, then died from his battlefield injuries after explaining that the Luo Clan’s sacrifice would weaken the Hu People’s Mandate of Heaven.
• Luo Chengzhi asked Murong Chengguang to continue the campaign against the Hu People, and Murong Chengguang reported suspicious news that the Yan imperial clan might threaten the army’s retreat.
• Luo Chengzhi argued that the missing messages from Ji City could be part of a Hu stratagem and advised destroying the Shi Tribe, killing Shi Le, and preparing a secure retreat.
• Luo Chengzhi and Murong Chengguang considered the danger of another Xianbei army and the risks of advancing or withdrawing, then agreed to attack the Shi Tribe before gathering boats and returning to Yan State.
• Luo Xi learned that Luo You had died when the Inheritance Ring made him its master, and the High Priest told him that only Luo Blood could break the Mandate of Heaven and charged him with protecting Winter City’s children.

Murong Chengguang replaced Yan’s imperial house with the Murong Clan and declared plans to attack Han, while the Xianbei besieged Tianjin City and the Central Plains states failed to unite against them. In Wei, Sima Yi used Cao Shuang’s absence to launch a coup, calling on the ministers to join him in defending the state.

• Luo Chengzhi and Murong Chengguang withdrew their forces after judging that the Xianbei armies across the Yellow River were too strong to attack.
• Murong Chengguang returned to Ji City, accepted the Yan emperor’s abdication, and proclaimed himself emperor while vowing to retain Yan as the dynastic name and invade Han.
• Zhao Yingluo rejected calls to surrender Tianjin City, and she and Luo Jialan held out against the Xianbei for a month before the city fell and several hundred people fled.
• Liu Shan rejected Luo Yuan’s proposal to make peace with Yan and ally against the Hu, insisting that Han would resist only if they entered the Central Plains.
• Cao Shuang took most of his core forces away from the capital to accompany the emperor to the imperial mausoleum, giving Sima Yi an opportunity to act.
• Sima Yi denounced Cao Shuang before the dukes and ministers and called on them to join his coup in defense of Wei’s altars of state.

Sima Yi rallied Wei’s ministers against Cao Shuang and then promised to spare him if he surrendered, sending respected scholars to mediate. Cao Shuang was terrified by Sima Yi’s letter, while Sima Yi privately weighed the risks of the plan.

• Sima Yi invoked justice and Great Wei’s survival to win support from ministers and clansmen in Chang'an, while Chen Shu urged them to back him against Cao Shuang.
• A minister warned that Cao Shuang might flee to Luoyang with the emperor and trigger civil war, but Sima Yi argued that Cao Shuang lacked provisions and would hesitate to endanger his soldiers’ families.
• Sima Yi sent Cao Fang a letter accusing Cao Shuang of disloyalty and proposing that he be stripped of office and allowed to retire as a marquis.
• Cao Shuang read the letter and panicked, believing himself trapped and unable to decide how to respond.
• Sima Yi promised a gathering of prominent scholars that he would spare Cao Shuang if he surrendered, and Chen Tai and others agreed to mediate.
• After the scholars left to approach Cao Shuang, Sima Yi watched them go and privately wrestled with fear and uncertainty before hardening his resolve.

Cao Shuang surrendered after Sima Yi swore before the people to honor an oath upon the Luo River, but Sima Yi later ordered Cao Shuang’s execution and his household’s destruction. Ji Lingjun invoked the Luo River’s divine power to punish the oathbreaker, annihilating the Sima Clan and leaving Cao Shuang alive.

• Cao Shuang agreed to surrender only after Sima Yi swore upon the Luo River to guarantee his safety and wealth.
• Sima Yi secretly plotted to kill Cao Shuang and ordered a decree accusing him of rebellion and condemning his household.
• Ji Lingjun learned that Sima Yi had broken his oath and enlisted the Luo Clan High Priest to serve as her vessel in the mortal world.
• As Cao Shuang awaited execution, Ji Lingjun’s divine phoenix appeared beneath black clouds and declared that oathbreakers would face divine judgment.
• Lightning killed Sima Yi’s sons, clan members, and allies before striking Sima Yi himself, while Cao Shuang was spared.
• The Luo Clan High Priest died after facilitating Ji Lingjun’s descent, and Ji Lingjun wondered at the outcome.